Schuck on Why Government Fails So Often, by David Henderson

I’m working my way through Peter H. Schuck, Why Government Fails So Often. It’s due out next month from Princeton University Press and I’m writing a review of it. I’m over halfway through and I’m loving it. Schuck does a beautiful job of laying out all the problems with government intervention. I’ll have trouble narrowing the list of juicy items to highlight in my review.

The book is subtitled "And How it Can Do Better." I’m skeptical that he’ll come up with much in that department given how powerful a case he makes for the thesis in his title. But, hey, I’ll keep an open mind.

As I said, there are many gems in this book. In a section on how little effect political contributions and lobbying have on changing votes, Schuck quotes the following from another author:

In 2011, the Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO joined together to call for a major reinvestment in American infrastructure. None passed. In 2010, most of the health care industry was either supportive or neutral on the Affordable Care Act, and if any one of them could have swung the votes of even a few Republican senators or congressmen, the desperate Democrats would have let them write almost anything they wanted into the bill. But not one Republican budged. In 2009, the Chamber of Commerce endorsed the stimulus bill as a necessary boost to the economy. Not one House Republican voted for it.

Question: Who said it? If you Google, then please don’t report your answer. (7 COMMENTS)